Just trying to Survive
by stevenuniversefanz37
Summary: a boy who's lost everyone in his life and is looking to start a new in Jackson (contains adult language)
1. arriving at jackson,WY

Introductory information:

Name: Jack Aiden Pierce

Age: 17

Height: 6'3"

Hair color: Brown

Eye color: Steel-Blue

Appearance: long sleeved blue t shirt, light brown cargo pants, a trimmed beard, black boots, and a military backpack, a shot gun on my bag and a pistol attached to my belt and I have a steel grey and blue motorcycle.

I had been riding for what seemed like eternity what was actually a few hours. I stopped my bike at the entrance of a Hydroelectric Dam which is quite clever if you can get the damn working, you get a good supply of water and electricity. I look at the Dam for a few moments.

"What do you want?" I hear a voice yell as I look up I see a woman in her mid-30's possibly early 40's pointing a hunting rifle at me, as I back away from the wall a little bit with my hands raised in surrender.

"I'll ask again, what do you want?" The woman asks in a more forceful tone.

"I'm looking for a place to settle down, I was pointed in this direction ma'am." I say. as she still has her gun trained on me.

"Are you a Hunter?" She asks. emphasizing the hunter part of her question.

"No ma'am, just a lone survivor looking for a place to live." I say, as she pulls out what I assume is a walkie- talkie It was hard to hear what she was saying, but the gate opened as I got on my bike as I hear the woman yell down to me.

"When you get inside, head to the big white house, Tommy wants to talk to you." She yells as I look up at her and nod as I start my bike and drive in as the gate closes behind me, as I look at the Settlement I see the big white house as I drive towards it. I stop in-front of it turn off my bike, take out the keys, and prop it up with the kick stand. As I get off and walk up the steps, and knock as I step back the door opens revealing who I guess is the leader of the Settlement, as he looks at me and vice versa he tells me to follow him as he sits down at the table he Invites me to as well as I sit down.

"I just have some questions for you." He says, as I nod.

"Where are you from?" He asks.

"Houston, Texas" I say, as He nods.

"How old are you?" He asks.

"17" I say.

"Alright, just so you know if you want to live here we all have to pull our weight around here, so what can you offer us." He asks.

"I have a Masters and Bachelor's Degree in Mechanics and Engineering, Proficient training in hand to hand combat, and gun training, and an Advanced Degree in Hydroelectric Power from the University of Texas in Austin." I say as He nods and stands up, as I do as well.

"I never did ask your name." He says.

"Jake Pierce."

"Tommy." He says as I shake his hand.

"Wait, your Tommy?" I ask.

"Yeah, why?" He asks.

"nothing, it's just the woman on the wall told me Tommy wanted to talk to me." I say.

"Oh, you mean Maria, yeah she told me." Tommy says as we walk out of the house as we get to the porch. He looks at my bike.

"that your bike?" Tommy asks.

"Yep." I say.

"Where did you find it?" Tommy asks.

"I found it in Denver, after traveling from Salt Lake City." I say as Tommy hums thoughtfully as he walks over to me.

"Okay, where your staying is the house at the far end of that cul-de-sac, with the Mechanic's shop attached to the House." Tommy says as he hands me the keys as I nod.

"Thanks, Tommy." I say as I start my bike and take off as I see him wave to me in my mirror before he goes back inside.

as I head to the end of the cul-de-sac, I pull into the driveway and turn off my bike and prop it as I walk to the Mechanic's shop door and unlock it and slide the door open and take a few seconds to look around the shop. It had quite the marvelous set up as I grab my bike and walk it in and walked out and closed the garage door and relocked it. Before heading to the house attached to it as I unlocked the door and stepped in and closed the door, I looked around the house had a moderately sized living room complete with couch and chairs, a kitchen I walked upstairs I saw two bedrooms complete with beds blankets and dressers, I even found a bookshelf as I went into the room on my left I set my backpack on the bed and take out the clothes I had packed and placed them in the dresser, and placed some books on the shelf and placed my backpack next to my bed, as I sit on my bed and take off my boots and place them next to my backpack as I lay on my bed and fall into the sweet lull of sleep.


	2. meeting everyone

I don't know how long I was asleep for but when I woke up I looked out my window It was still dark out maybe 5 in the morning. I decided that was enough sleep, so I made my way to my kitchen I opened a cupboard and I pulled out a can of peaches and fill a cup of water, after finishing my can of peaches I decided I needed something to do until the sun was up, so I went up to my room and grabbed a random book.

"No Pun Intended vol. 3: No Pun is Too Punny by Will Livingston." I read the title out loud as I shrug my shoulders and walk back downstairs book in hand as I sit down at the kitchen table, and open the pun book to a random page.

"What do you call an Alligator in a vest? An investigator." I read the pun nope the puns were still bad just as I remember as I chuckle to myself As I continue to read the puns until I see the sun rise, I put the book down on the table and go over to the window and look out to see everybody leaving their houses and going about their business in the town, as I look outside I hear a knock on my door as I move from the window I open the door and I see Tommy on the porch.

"Tommy, what are you doing here?" I ask.

"Well Jack, were having a cookout later today and I was wonderin' if you would like to attend. You know maybe meet some of the people here in Jackson." Tommy says.

"Well sure Tommy, if you're offerin' I'll gladly accept." I say as he looks at me and smiles.

"Great I'll see you there, and I'll talk to you about your assignment for tomorrow." Tommy says.

"Alright Tommy see you there." I say as we say goodbye to each other as he walks off as I close the door and put on my boots I decide to open my shop doing a wide variety of things from weapon repair, and trade to mechanical repairs. I walk to the inside of the garage I unlock it and push it up the second I did I saw a few people standing there they filed in as I went behind the counter.

"What can I help you with?" I ask the man as he places a pistol on the counter.

"Damn thing keeps getting jammed if I don't get it fixed I'll be an easy target." The man says as I nod and take the gun and examine it thoroughly, I found the problem the bullets he was using they were slightly too big for the pistols chamber as I turn back to the man with his gun in my hand.

"What size are the bullets are you using?" I ask as he scratches his beard.

".19, why?" He asks.

"Well the reason your gun keeps getting jammed, is because the bullets your using are slightly too big for the chamber. Might I suggest you try the 9mm bullets." I say as I grab a small box of 9 mm bullets and load the clip put it in the gun.

"Are you sure that's gonna work?" He asks as I cock the gun having it go fully back and handing it to him.

"there's a shooting range out back you can try it out there." I say as I hand him his gun and the small box of ammunition as he heads out back as I turn to the next person in line. I continued to work with the other people in line after helping the last person I hear gunshots in the shooting range as I was wiping down the counter, I got a good amount of trade from old weapons and blades I could refurbish and sell. After a little while the gunshots stopped, and the man came in with a smile on his face as I looked at him and I also smiled.

"I take it went well?" I ask as his smile widens.

"Hell, yeah it did the 9mm bullets worked wonders. Thanks." He says.

"No problem just trying to make sure you are able to keep yourself alive." I say as I pull out two small boxes of 9mm ammunition as he looks at me.

"What's this for?" He asks.

"Extra ammo for your gun it's on the house." I say as he smiles again.

"Names Jim." He says as he extends his hand.

"Jack." I say as I shake his hand as he leaves. I sigh in content as I walk around the counter looking at the somehow still running clock as I looked out the garage, I saw people walking to the town center I figured it was time for that cookout Tommy mentioned. I walk outside and close the garage door and locked it as I walk with the others to the cookout, when I got there I saw all kinds of people and kids running around I briefly saw a girl with auburn hair pass in the crowd as I looked at her for a few seconds. I looked further in the crowd I saw Tommy at the grill and Maria handing out drinks to kids and adults alike, I walk over to Tommy as he flips the burgers he looks up and smiles.

"Jack, you made it." Tommy says as he turns his attention back to the burgers and hot dogs.

"Well you invited me, so I'd reckon' I wouldn't miss it." I say as he looks at me.

"Need any help with anything?" I ask Tommy.

"Well between you and me, we need one more act for the entertainment tonight." Tommy says.

"Entertainment? What kind of entertainment?" I ask.

"Well we need a singer, and I was wondering if you would do it." He says flipping the burgers and hot dogs as I think for a moment.

"Sure, I'll do it" I say as he looks at me.

"You get to pick the song, just keep it appropriate there are kids here after all." Tommy says as I think.

"Can I do two songs?" I ask as Tommy thinks.

"Sure, what two songs would you like to perform?" Tommy asks.

"How about Life is a Highway? And Ballroom Blitz to get everyone dancing?" I ask as he thinks it over for a moment as he looks at me.

"What do you need?" He asks

"I just need a guitar and a microphone." I say as he nods.

"Alright your gonna be the last act of the night, so you got quite some time 'fore that." Tommy says as he checks everything one last time before handing me a plate with an empty burger and hot dog bun as I look at him.

"New guys first." He says as he places a hot dog and hamburger in the buns as he tells me to go down the line. I nod as I move down.

"Foods done." I hear Tommy yell as everyone lines up I continue moving down the line putting ketchup, and mustard on my hot dog and burger, as I place cheese and pickles on my burger and put the bun on it, I grab a handful of chips and potato salad as I move onto drinks as Maria hands me a cup of lemonade.

"There you go." She says as she hands me the lemonade.

"Thanks Maria." I say as she looks at me in surprise.

"How do you know my name?" She asks.

"Tommy told me." I say as she sighs.

"Tommy." She says in a strained voice as I take the opportunity to slip away, I made my way to a table, I sit down I'm soon joined by Jim and I assume his wife and their two daughters.

"Hey Jim." I say.

"Hey, Jack I'd like to introduce you to my wife Elizabeth, and my daughters Crystal and Amber." Jim says as Amber sits down next to me; Jim's daughters must be at least 16 years old each as I reach out and shake their hands.

"Nice to meet you all." I say as I get small smiles from Elizabeth, Crystal and Amber as we all start eating.

"So are you performing tonight." I ask Jim as he looks up from his food.

"Yeah, so is Amber." Jim says.

"Are you?" Jim asks.

"Yeah, I'm the last person performing, I get to perform two songs." I say as Jim smiles.

"Lucky. Amber and I get to perform one." Jim says playfully as I lean in.

"Between you and me the second song is to get everyone to dance." I say as I see Crystal smile brightly as the afternoon continues until it got dark, and Tommy took to the stage as everyone watched.

"I'd like to thank you all for coming out today, well what do yawl say we start the show." Tommy says as we all cheer as Tommy introduces the first act a comedy segment, as the night continued going through a couple more acts then it was Jim's turn to perform as he walked up to the mic he sang the song Warriors, after he was done I was impressed after three more acts eventually it was Ambers turn as she went on stage I could see she was nervous so I looked her in the eyes and gave her an encouraging smile, as she sang to I Can't Help Falling in Love with You, I thought she sang beautifully as she came back to the table and sat down.

"Well, how did I do?" Amber asks as I pat her shoulder as she looks at me.

"You sang beautifully." I say as I saw a light blush appear on her face as she turned away muttering a quiet 'thank you', after a couple more performances I walked over to Tommy as he stood off stage as he turned he saw me and smiled.

"Hey Jack, got the guitar you wanted I had to borrow it from a family member." Tommy says as he hands me the guitar as I strum it to make sure it's in tune, I'm satisfied at the result of me strumming as I turn to Tommy and smile.

"Thanks Tommy, I'm ready." I say as he nods and takes the stage.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce the last act of the night and newest resident of Jackson. Jack." Tommy announces as I take the stage and sit on the stool and bring the mic close to me as I wait for Tommy to introduce the song I was singing.

"Jack will be performing the song Life is a Highway." Tommy says as he leaves as I strum a G and continue from there.

 ** _Life's like a road that you travel on  
When there's one day here and the next day gone  
Sometimes you bend, sometimes you stand  
Sometimes you turn your back to the wind_**

 ** _There's a world outside every darkened door  
Where blues won't haunt you anymore  
Where the brave are free and lovers soar  
Come ride with me to the distant shore_**

 ** _We won't hesitate  
To break down the garden gate  
There's not much time left today_**

 ** _[Chorus:]  
Life is a highway  
I wanna ride it all night long  
If you're going my way  
I wanna drive it all night long_**

 ** _Through all these cities and all these towns  
It's in my blood and it's all around  
I love you now like I loved you then  
This is the road and these are the hands  
From Mozambique to those Memphis nights  
The Khyber Pass to Vancouver's lights_**

 ** _Knock me down get back up again  
You're in my blood  
I'm not a lonely man  
There's no load I can't hold  
Road so rough this I know  
I'll be there when the light comes in  
Just tell 'em we're survivors_**

 ** _[Chorus]_**

 ** _Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme yeah_**

 ** _[Chorus]_**

 ** _There was a distance between you and I  
Between you and I  
A misunderstanding once  
But now we look it in the eye_**

 ** _Ooh... yeah!_**

 ** _There ain't no load that I can't hold  
Road so rough this I know  
I'll be there when the light comes in  
Just tell 'em we're survivors_**

 ** _[Chorus 3x]_**

 ** _Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme yeah_**

As I finish singing I'm meet with applause as I grab the mic.

"Alright folks there is just one more song." I say as they look at me.

"This one you need to be out of your sets and on your feet." I say as they surprisingly get out of their seats.

"Alright grab someone close to you 'cause I guarantee you'll like this." I say as I strummed the first note and played Ballroom Blitz, as I was playing I saw the smiles on people's faces as they danced to the song. As I finished I was met with applause as I made my way off stage as Tommy made his way on.

"I'd like to thank you all for coming out tonight, and please get home safe." Tommy says as everyone starts to file out as Tommy leaves the stage as I hand him the guitar.

"Thanks Tommy, you said you were going to tell me my assignment." I say.

"Yeah go to the stables tomorrow I'll send someone to help you." Tommy says as he walks away.

"Goodnight Tommy and see you tomorrow." I say as I walk back to my house for tomorrow.


	3. Ellie

I woke up early after last night and left my house to make my way to the stables which coincidently is a few miles from my house in the fields. I made it there I met the man in charge of the stables Johnny he sent me to take care of a horse named Callous, that's a stupid name for a horse. As I enter the stable that holds Callous. I began brushing him when a girl enters the stall.

"What the fuck… get away from him!" She yells, as she pulls out a gun as I roll my eyes as I grab the gun from her grip and hold it above her grasp, as she jumps attempting to reach it eventually she gives up.

"Have we calmed down now?" I ask, as she hangs her head.

"Yeah… what are you a Hunter?" She asks.

"Listen if I was a Hunter, do you think I would make it past the wall that's heavily guarded just to take a horse?" I ask, as she looks at me.

"No, I guess not." She says, as I pick up the brush and continue, while still holding her gun as I'm brushing I feel her gaze on me.

"Something on your mind?" I ask, as she looks at me some more.

"Have I seen you before?" She asks, as I look at her.

"I think you do after all I did perform at the cookout." I say as she gets a look of recognition crossed her face as she gasped.

"Your Jack." She yells as I give her a smile.

"You got it, so if I may get your name?" I ask as I keep brushing Callous, seriously it's a stupid name for a horse.

"Ellie… its Ellie." she says as I hand her the brush.

"If you get that side of Callous, I'll treat you to lunch." I say as she smiles.

"Sure." Ellie says as she brushes callous. Eventually after getting the work done we walked back to my house as I opened the door as we stepped inside as I closed the door.

"So… how about Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup?" I say as I see slight confusion on her face.

"What's Grilled Cheese?" Ellie asks as I look at her in shock.

"Well you're in for a treat." I say as I pull out a pan for the Grilled Cheese and a sauce pan for the soup, as I butter the bread and add the cheese and place it in the pan butter side down as it starts cooking. I start up the soup as I pull out a spatula from the drawer, it only took me a couple of minutes to make both Grilled Cheese sandwiches and get out a couple bowls and fill them with soup, as I place the bowl of soup and the Grilled Cheese in front of Ellie as I grab a spoon and place it next to the soup bowl as she takes the spoon in her hand and digs in combining sop and Grilled Cheese.

"This is so fucking good!" Ellie exclaims through as a mouthful as I look at her.

"Young lady, I believe you need to watch your language 'round here." I say as my accent becomes prominent as she looks at me and swallows her mouthful, as she laughs between breaths as I look at her crossly.

"You sound just like Joel." Ellie says between laughing and breathing.

"Ellie I'm serious." I say as she stops laughing and glares at me

"You're not the boss of me." Ellie says maintaining her glare.

"Actually I am, this is my house, and I'm older than you." I say as I lean against the counter with my arms crossed as I smiled smugly as she looks at me.

"Bullshit… I don't believe you how old are you 20?" Ellie says defiantly

"it's true, and I'm 17. how old are you 12?" I say as my smirk widens

"No I'm not 12, I'm 16." Ellie yells as she sits back down as I sigh and walk over to my garage door and unlock it, as I hear her shift in her seat.

"Where are you going?" Ellie asks as I turn and look at her.

"I'm going into my shop what does it look like… your welcome to come in if you want." I say as I fully enter my shop eventually after a few seconds of silence I hear her footsteps enter the shop, as I turn on the lights and open the garage door I turn to Ellie as I see her staring at a corner of my shop.

"Holy shit… you have a motorcycle; can I ride it?" Ellie asks as I look at her.

"No." I say as I go behind the counter and grab two 9mm hand guns and a couple boxes of ammo.

"But why not?" Ellie whines as I turn to the wall I grab my bow and several arrows as I place them in a bag I put on my shoulders.

"Because I only use it for when I travel long distances, and gas is extremely hard to come by." I say as I stand outside as I look back at her.

"Maybe I'll give you a ride… come on." I say as I walk out as I get a little further I hear her hurried footsteps.

"Where are we going?" Ellie asks.

"You'll see." I say as we walk around the corner to the gun range as I look at Ellie to see she's already running ahead.

"Holy shit, you have a gun range." Ellie says as I walk up to the stall of my range as I set down the pistols, the ammo and my bow and the arrows as I turn around I see Ellie looking at me.

"What are those for?" Ellie asks as she watches me.

"For shooting annoying girls who ask to many questions, what else?" I say sarcastically as I fully load the clip of the pistol, as I briefly hear her mutter 'dick' as I chuckle and turn back to her.

"You know how to use a gun?" I ask as she just scoffs and takes the gun and walks into the stall as she fires the clip into the target set up 30 yards away, nearly all her shots made it to be more precise 3 of 7 shots hit the bullseye, I just chuckle as she spins on her heel and places the gun down on the table and glares at me.

"What think you can do better?" Ellie challenges as I grab the other loaded gun and walk over to another stall that was set up 45 yards out without looking at the target I fired every shot from the clip, I placed the gun down on the table as I saw Ellie walk out of the stall with a look of shock on her face. All my bullets had hit the bullseye as she looks at me.

"How…" Ellie trails off as I give her a smile.

"I trained in using guns since I was 5 years old." I say as I pick up my bow and an arrow I knock the arrow and pull it back and let it fly as it hits the bullseye, as I lower my bow Ellie walks up holding a couple arrows.

"Mind if I try?" Ellie asks as I hand her my bow.

"Sure, knock yourself out." I say as I stand back as she knocks an arrow lifts it up and tries to pull it back. after a few moments of Ellie trying to pull the string back I decided to step in.

"Need any help?" I ask as Ellie turns to me.

"No, I got it." Ellie says as she tries for a few moments before sighing.

"Okay, I could use a little help." Ellie says as I walk up behind her and guide her through when she gets to the bow string I decide to talk.

"Okay now remember, this bow has been modified to its fullest extent so it's gonna be harder to pull the string back." I say as I help her pull the string back.

"Yeah, no shit." Ellie says as I roll my eyes as I step back and let her shoot the arrow, after a while Ellie steps away and sets my bow and the arrows down as I smile at her.

"You did good." I say as she smiles, I turn to see tommy coming towards us when he finally reaches us he looks over the weapons on the table and chuckles.

"Getting in some shooting practice you two." Tommy says chuckling.

"Yep." I say as I chuckle as well, then Tommy gets serious.

"Hey Jack, I'm askin' if you want to join us in a supply a run and hunting trip tomorrow." Tommy says.

"Sure." I say as he smiles.

"Good." Tommy says as he starts to walk away when Ellie speaks up.

"Wait, what about me?" Ellie asks as Tommy faces her.

"No Ellie, you know what Joel would do to either of us if I let you go." Tommy says.

"But-"Ellie says.

"No means no, Ellie." Tommy says stubbornly.

"Oh, come on, I can handle myself you and Joel know this, please give me a chance that's all I ask." Ellie asks as Tommy sighs in frustration.

"Fine, but ask Joel first if he agrees then you can come." Tommy says as he walks away as I look at Ellie with a smirk on my face as she looks at me.

"What?" Ellie asks as I smirk.

"Nothing, come on I'll take you home." I say as Ellie and I start to walk as we exit the back I lock the back gate as we walk to her house, which coincidently is a couple houses down from my house as we say goodbye to each other as I head home to sleep.


	4. Supply Run

I woke up to the sound of someone pounding on my door, as I got up I decided to wear what I wore yesterday as I made my way down the stairs and opened the door. I saw Tommy standing there.

"Yes, Tommy?" I ask.

"It's time for the trip." Tommy says, as I nod.

"Alright, I'll swing by Ellie and Joel's to see if Ellie can go." I say, as Tommy nods.

"Alright, I'll see you at the gate." Tommy says, as he heads off as I close my door and walk to my garage and open the door, as I turn my attention to my bike. I get on and start it up I had made some modifications to the engine to make it quieter, as I started it and made my way out of my garage as I closed it behind me and relocked it. I rode to Ellie and Joel's house, I haven't met Joel personally, so I assume he's like Tommy.

I pull up in front of their house as Ellie comes out and stops in front of my bike with her backpack over her shoulder, as we looked at each other.

"So, did Joel give you permission to go with?" I ask, as she looks away for a brief second.

"No, he didn't." Ellie sighs, as I look at her.

"So, you're just deciding to go, even though he said no." I say.

"Yes, I am." Ellie says.

"No, you won't Ellie." I say.

"But- "

"No Ellie." I say, as she looks away for a brief second with a mischievous smirk.

"You promised." Ellie says smirk never leaving her face, as I look at her with a confused look on my face.

"Promised what?" I ask.

"To give me a ride on your motorcycle." Ellie says, as I think it over.

"Fine, but if you get in trouble I'm not responsible." I say, as Ellie gets on my bike and wraps her arms around my stomach.

"I'm fine with that." Ellie says, as I turn on my bike as we head off to meet Tommy at the gate.

I pulled up at the gate I saw Tommy, and a couple of others on horseback. One I recognized as Jim as he saw me he gave a wave.

"Hey Jack." Jim says with a smile on his face, as I return the smile and the wave.

"Hey Jim." I say as tommy clears his throat, as I look up at him.

"Well I see you already met Jim, this is John his brother." Tommy says, as he points to john to which he nods his head towards me, which I returned as Tommy turns his attention to Ellie.

"Did Joel give you permission to tag along?" Tommy asked, as Ellie looked at me for a brief second as I nodded.

"Yeah, he did." Ellie lied, as Tommy narrowed his eyes suspiciously before relaxing.

"Alright, as long as he trusts you." Tommy says as he turns to me and looks at my bike.

"I hope your bike doesn't make too much noise." He says, as I shake my head.

"No, I modified it so the engine is quieter, so it shouldn't be a problem." I say as Tommy nods his head, and, tosses me a walkie talkie as I grab it I slip it onto my belt.

"So, where are we going?" I ask, as Tommy radios for the gate to be opened, as he placed the radio back on his belt.

"Edmonton; it's a relatively big town they may have supplies like medicine, guns and ammo, and food" Tommy says, as we begin moving out of the gate and towards Edmonton with the gate closing behind us.

"I know the Town." I say, as Tommy looks at me.

"How?" He asks as I turn my head away not really in the mood to talk about it. I just decided to ask a question.

"So, how far away is Edmonton anyway?" I ask, as I keep my bike at a similar speed as their horses.

"It's just a couple of hours from here, so we can take it easy for now." Tommy says, as he turns his attention back to the road.

Two hours later

We finally arrived at Edmonton as we all rode down to the city center, as Tommy and the others get off their horses and tie them up, as I park my bike close to the horses. I turn it off and take the keys out as I grab three large duffels for any supplies we find, and I sling them over my shoulder as me and Ellie made our way over to Tommy and the others.

"Okay, we need to decide who's going where." Tommy says, as he looks at me and Ellie.

"You two have any ideas?" He asked, as I nod my head.

"Ellie and I will take the Police station, a couple of Grocery stores, and a couple of Pharmacies; there are bound to be weapons and ammo, food, and medicine granted if it hasn't been looted yet." I say, as Tommy nods.

"Alright, the rest of us will spread out, and gather what we can we'll meet back here in an hour." Tommy says as we all nod, as we separate with me and Ellie heading towards the Police station.

As we were walking Ellie decided to talk.

"You said you know this town. How?" Ellie asked, as I smile.

"I have or had a few relatives who lived here." I say as we keep walking, as we were just a few feet from the Station.

"Had?" Ellie questions as I give her a sad smile, as she realizes what I meant.

"Oh, sorry." She says, as she looks away and holds her arm.

"it's alright, I know I couldn't stop anything if I tried. Come on." I say, as we walk through the doors to see a very bloody lobby with several bodies around.

"What happened here?" Ellie asked, as I look at her.

"The same thing that happened around the country, death." I say as I check the desk I found a pistol and a box of ammo in one drawer, as well as a roll of tape and a pair of scissors. I quickly put together a shiv that I quickly placed in my backpack along with the box of ammo, but I put the gun in the duffle then I remembered I brought something.

"Hey Ellie, you got your gun, right?" I ask, as she nodded.

"Toss it over here, I got something for it." I say as she looks at me with a confused look on her face but tossed it over none the less, as I caught it and pulled the silencer out of my pack, as I placed it securely on her gun before tossing it back to her.

"What the hell is this?" Ellie asks pointing to the silencer.

"It's called a silencer it almost muffles all the noise the gun would make if it didn't have it, and as a bonus say you come face to face with an infected and you fire at it the shot is quieter, so you kill the infected, but you don't attract any others." I say.

"That's fucking cool." Ellie says as she re holsters her pistol as we make our way further into the station, as we stop in the hallway outside a door marked 'armory' as I try the nob I find its open. I push the door in as Ellie and I walk through only to see the weapons gone.

"Damn it. They're all gone." Ellie yells in frustration, as I just smile at her.

"Not necessarily this is a big station, and I know for a fact that this place holds several more caches." I say as Ellie looks at me in surprise, as I scrounge a few items from the room, but nothing really of use as I walk out the door and to the stairwell with Ellie following the whole time, as we get to the bottom of the stairs we reach another door as Ellie rushes ahead and tries to push the door open, and failing as I just laugh as she stops pushing then turns and glares at me.

"I'd like to see you try to get the door open." Ellie says with an angry tone, as I just smirk.

"Okay." I say as I walk up to the badge scanner and take the badge and scan it, as I put it in my pocket as I grab the handle and turn it as I push the door open. I walked in not missing a chance to see Ellie's glare increase as I turn to face her.

"That's why you always look for a key card." I say as I see her stick out her tongue at me, as I just smile as she follows me in we see the walls filled with weapons, from automatic rifles to pistols. I walk over to a wall and set down the duffels, as I begin filling it with the guns and the ammo. I instruct Ellie to do the same.

After a few minutes the room is completely bare of any guns and ammo, as I sling the now full duffle over my shoulder as I grab the two empty ones.

"The second one is for food and medicine." I say as Ellie nods as we make our way out of the cache, and out of the station as I toss the card, as we make our way towards the Supermarket.

"Well at least these weapons won't make their way into the hands of hunters." Ellie says, as I nod.

"Well I fear the first room did, or it was just looters from the city." I say as we walk into the store we each grab an abandoned shopping cart, as we make our way through the isles as we reach the front of the store both of our carts nearly full. I set down one of the duffels as we took the food from our carts and put it in completely filling the bag with a few medicinal items thrown in. I slung the second full bag over my shoulder as we walked the relatively short distance to the Pharmacies, as we entered through the doors we once again grabbed carts and made our ways through the aisles, we met back at the medicine pick up as we loaded the third duffle but only managing to fill it halfway.

I looked back at the locked door of the Pharmacy, as I looked back to Ellie she seemed to get the same idea.

"How do we get in?" Ellie asked, as I quickly looked around I saw a set of keys I get up and walk to the counter to grab them, as I grabbed them I walked over to the locked door. When I inserted the keys, I heard a loud crashing noise on the other side. I looked to Ellie.

"You heard that, right?" I ask as she nodded her head, as I set the other two duffels down next to Ellie as I walked over to the door. I pulled out my pistol with the silencer as I turn the key as quietly as possible, as I look at Ellie.

"Stay here." I say, as she opens her mouth.

"Ellie please I need you to stay with the supplies; this shouldn't take long." I say, as she finally nods, as I slowly push the door open I hear her whisper, as I hear clicking noises.

"Be careful Jack." I hear Ellie whisper as I pushed the door in further, as I walked in I hid behind a shelf as I tuned my hearing. I see two infected and by the clicking noises ones a clicker, and the other a normal infected. I move from the shelf as I made my way around the clicker to the normal infected, as I grabbed onto them and started to strangle him, as he eventually stopped moving. I set them on the ground quietly as I made my way behind the clicker as I pulled out my shiv, I jumped and grabbed the clicker as it started struggling I stabbed it in the neck as it made pained gurgling noises, as it stopped moving as I dropped the clicker.

"Ellie grab the bags and come in coast is clear." I say, as Ellie walks in with the bags, as she sets them on the floor.

"Alright Ellie, lets fill up the duffle with the meds in here." I say as we get to work as the Pharmacy was now empty, and the duffle full. I sling the three duffels over my shoulder, as we walked out of the pharmacy and back onto the streets I turn to Ellie.

"Okay, now that we hit all the places we needed to go, how about you choose where we go we still have 20 minutes left." I say, as Ellie puts her finger to her chin in mock thought.

"Well when we got here we passed a movie store, I wouldn't mind checking out." Ellie says, as I nod.

"Alright, let's get going." I say as we walk along the long-abandoned sidewalk, as we saw the movie store I saw it was next to a Gas station.

"Hey Ellie, is it alright if we go to the Gas station next, it probably wouldn't hurt to get some gas for my bike." I say, as Ellie nods.

"Alright." She says as we walk into the store, as Ellie looks around I take my time looking in my looking. I found a large bag I could use, before Ellie called my name.

"Hey Jack, what's this?" Ellie asks, as I walk over to her.

"What'd you find?" I ask as I stop right next to her, as she shows me the DVD.

"What is this?" Ellie asks, as I can't help, but smile.

"Well I'll be, that's a cartoon I haven't seen since I was nine." I say as Ellie looks at me

"It's a children's show called Spongebob Squarepants, it's about this yellow sea sponge that goes around having adventures with his friends." I say as Ellie looks at it for a second, before putting it in her backpack. (the spongebob thing, is for my little cousin who is nine.)

"Do you have a way I could watch this?" Ellie asks, as I rub my beard in contemplation.

"I think I have a DVD player back at the house." I say, as I feel Ellie give me a hug then letting me go, before turning to me.

"Thanks, Jack." Ellie says, as I give her a smile.

"No problem, come on lets head to the Gas station, before heading back to the horses and my bike." I say as we walk out of the store and to the Gas station inside. I found several medium sized cans already filled. I took out the large bag I found in the video store and I grabbed the cans and put them in as me and Ellie walked away towards the city center.

We apparently arrived first because Tommy, Jim and his brother weren't there yet, and I heard nothing over the radio, so Ellie and I made our way to my bike as we carefully situated the three duffels, so Ellie could still sit comfortably, as I situated the gas cans in my saddle bags on the sides. I positioned myself on my bike and I helped Ellie do the same.

Eventually Tommy, Jim and John come walking towards us with duffels over their shoulders, as they get on their horses.

"Did you guys find anything?" I ask, as all three nod.

"About half a bag full. How about you two?" Tommy askes.

"Three full duffels from the Police station that still had a full weapons cache, the store having just enough food to fill the second bag, and the Pharmacy was enough to fill half the bag, we had to go into the back to fill it up the rest of the way." I say, as Tommy nods.

"Any trouble?" Jim asks, as I shake my head.

"No, not unless you count the two infected in the Pharmacy." I say, as I see them start to take out their weapons.

"Easy, they were taken care of." I say as they relaxed and put their weapons away.

"Anything else?" John asks, as I nod.

"Ellie found something to watch, and I found several full medium sized gas cans for my bike." I say as they nod, as they tie their duffels to their horses as Tommy turns to me.

"Jack when we get back I want you to drop Ellie off, and return to your place and count how much stuff we got on this trip. We'll go hunting tomorrow." Tommy says, as I nod.

"And you can take a portion as well." He says as I nod again as I start my bike, as they ride out first and I follow.

Two hours later

we arrive back at the Settlement as Tommy radios ahead for them to open the gate, as we ride inside, and we stop by Tommy and Marias' house. They get off their horses, as they had me their duffels as I have Ellie carefully attach them, as I help her get back on I turn to Tommy.

"I'll give you the list of what we got either later today or tomorrow tommy, just come by when you want it." I say as he nods before they get back onto their horses and ride back to the stables, before calling out.

"Don't mind my brother; Jack he's just a little over protective of Ellie." Tommy yells, as I look at him with a look of confusion.

'Okay that's weird.' I think as I drive to Joel and Ellies house, as I stop in front of the walkway Ellie gets off.

"Hey Ellie, if you ever need it don't be afraid to pop by my place if you need a place to stay for the night." I say, as I see her smile.

"Thanks Jack, I may just need it." Ellie says referring to the probably long scolding, and possible grounding from Joel.

"No problem Ellie, I'll see you later." I say as she waves as I drive off towards my house, as I park in the driveway as I turned off my bike. I unlocked the garage door and walked my bike in and parking it in the corner, before untying the five duffels and the bag filled with gas, as I grabbed the gas cans and placed them behind the counter as I walked back and grabbed the five duffels. I walked into my house as I cleared off the table as I set the duffels in the chairs, as I went through each of them.

By the end of it I separated them into piles, the weapons pile we collected at least 180 guns and 80 boxes of ammo from the Police station. I took several automatic rifles and pistols as well as several boxes of ammunition for each, for the food we collected 100 cans of food I took 20 cans, and for medicine we collected 186 boxes and bottles of medicine a wide variety such as the much-needed penicillin and anti-biotics. I took eight items of the medicine and made at least 18 health packs, as I placed the rest back in the duffels to be collected later or tomorrow when I heard a knock on my door, as I walk over and open my door I see Ellie.

I couldn't stop the smirk that appeared on my face.

"I guess you got in trouble?" I ask as she nods not looking at me, as I move aside to let her in as she walks in and sits on the couch. After a few minutes I sat next to her as she finally looks at me.

"That offer to sleep here still open?" Ellie asked as I nod my head.

"Of course, do you want to talk about it?" I ask, as she nods.

"In a way you were right about me getting into trouble, and you not being held responsible. I got one serious scolding for an hour then he told me I was grounded, I stormed out telling him to go to hell." Ellie says, as I let out a breath.

"Tommy was right, Joel is slightly over protective. Ellie he was just worried about you, if he was your dad he'd be doing the exact same thing, worrying because he cares about you." I say, as she releases a sigh, and gives me a smile.

"Thanks Jack. Should I apologize to him?" Ellie asks, as I nod.

"Tomorrow, give you and him sometime to cool down." I say, as she nods.

"Hey, want to know how much stuff we got?" I ask, as Ellie immediately jumps up.

"Hell, yeah I do." She yells, as I laugh.

"Okay for the weapons we got 180 guns and 80 boxes of ammo, for food we got 100 cans, and medicine we got 186 bottles and boxes of medicine and gauze, and I already took my share." I say, as Ellie nods.

"You want me to show you your room." I ask as Ellie nods as I get up from the couch and I gesture her to follow me, as we got to the top of the stairs. I opened the door to her temporary room as she walked in and took off her backpack, as she set it on the dresser as she opened it and took out the movie she took today.

"Hey, do you think we could watch this?" Ellie asks, as I think for a few seconds.

"I think a DVD player is attached to my tv that I got a while back." I say as Ellie pushes past me and rushes own stairs as I slowly walk down the stairs. I see her already with the tv on and sitting on the couch. I see the movie starting as I dim the lights and grab a blanket as I walk over and sit on the couch, as I put the blanket over us as the movie starts.

After a couple hours I saw it was dark out I turned my attention back to the movie as I felt something slump against my shoulder. I look to see its Ellie asleep on my shoulder, I grab the tv remote and I turn off the tv and movie, as I pull the blanket off us. I carefully pull Ellie off as I stand up and I carefully pick Ellie up, and carry her upstairs as I walk into her room. I gently set her down on the bed as I pull the blanket over her as I walk to the door.

"Goodnight, Ellie." I whisper, as I walk out while closing the door.

"Goodnight, Jack." Ellie says as I close the door fully with a smile on my face, as I make my way to my room as I get into bed and fall into a deep sleep.


End file.
